Last summer, as part of its mission to encourage exploration of Vermont’s working landscape and rural culture, Billings
Farm and Museum partnered with VPR to develop an audio tour
CD of general stores in the Central
Vermont region. Stores
in Woodstock, Barnard, Taftsville, Bridgewater Corners, Plymouth, and Tunbridge are among those featured on the disc.
The tour provides a mix of narrative segments
that examine the country store (past and present) from many facets such as folk
architecture, the general store’s function in the community and the role of the
storekeeper, as a venue for humor and storytelling.
In addition to excerpts of archive recordings
done by the Vermont Folklife Center, the CD features original
essays by VPR commentator, Tom Slayton.
This
week, VPR is encoring a selection of the essays
Tom developed for the CD. Listen at 5:55 during All Things Considered
for the series "Still Working".